The following is the world’s shortest horror story.
The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.
Tag: alone
Weltschmerz
There is a German word called weltschmerz, which translates into “world pain” or “weariness against the world”. This word describes sad emotions felt after realising that the material world cannot satisfy the mind and that the ideal, hypothetic utopia in your mind cannot exist. It also describes the sadness felt after realising that your weaknesses arose from physical and social conditions of the world. Weltschmerz was widely used by poets such as Lord Byron, mainly as a way of viewing the world. It is a very pessimistic view of the world that often leads to or associated with depression, resignation and escapism. In severe cases it may lead to mental disorders such as hikikomori (a social disorder where the person does not and cannot leave their room due to fear and disgust of the world, also known as agoraphobia).
Satire
독소(獨笑) (To Laugh Alone)
有粟無人食 (유속무인식)
A household with great wealth lacks children,多男必患飢 (다남필환기)
A household with many children is poor,達官必準愚 (달관필준우)
Those who are at high positions are idiots,才者無所施 (재자무소시)
Those with talent have no way to develop them.家室少完福 (가실소완복)
A house with complete luck is rare to find,至道常陵遲 (지도상릉지)
Great morality is bound to fade away,翁嗇子每蕩 (옹색자매탕)
If the father is thrift then the son is prodigal,婦慧郞必癡 (부혜랑필치)
If the wife is wise then the husband is foolish.月滿頻値雲 (월만빈치운)
When the full moon is out the weather is cloudy,花開風誤之 (화개풍오지)
When the flowers are at full bloom the weather is windy.物物盡如此 (물물진여차)
Such is how everything works.獨笑無人知 (독소무인지)
There is no one who knows the reason why I am laughing.~ Dasan Jeung Yak Yong (a Korean academic from the late 18th century)
